Softball Sweeps Towson to Clinch Second Seed at CAA Championship

Friday, May 4

Harrisonburg, Va.

3:00 PM

James Madison University

27-24, 13-5

Towson

25-28, 8-11

Towson

James Madison

Softball Sweeps Towson to Clinch Second Seed at CAA Championship

5/4/2012 11:26:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., May 4, 2012 – Freshman pitchers Heather Kiefer (Potomac Falls, Va./Potomac Falls) and Reba DePriest (Apache Junction, Ariz./Skyline) each set new career-highs for strikeouts and combined to throw 11 shutout innings as the James Madison softball team swept a doubleheader over Towson at Veterans Memorial Park on Friday. JMU won game one 1-0 and took the nightcap 7-2.

The Dukes won their third straight and four of their last five to improve to 28-24 on the season and 14-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association. They clinched the second seed in next week's CAA Championship and will face third-seeded Georgia State in the first round. Towson ran its losing streak to six games, dropping to 25-29 overall and 8-12 in conference play.

In game two, DePriest tossed four innings of no-hit, shutout relief to earn the win. She walked one and struck out a career-high eight to improve to 4-7 on the season. She relieved freshman right-hander Sarah Mooney (Huntersville, N.C./North Mecklenburg) who allowed two runs on three hits and two walk in three innings pitched.

Dominique Ortega took the loss for the Tigers to drop to 4-8. She allowed six runs, four earned, on six hits and struck out two in three innings of work. Missy McCormick gave up one run on three hits and two walks while striking out two in three innings of relief.

Offensively, Madison was paced by junior first baseman Haley Johnson (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) who went 2-for-2 with a home run, a double, a walk, three RBIs and a run scored. Sophomore third baseman Caitlin Sandy (Fayetteville, N.C./Jack Britt) added two hits and a run scored while junior center fielder Jasmine Butler (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) went 2-for-3 with a run, a RBI and two stolen bases.

Center fielder Erika Stasch led TU by going 2-for-3 while shortstop Hailey Balk picked up the team's only other hit, going 1-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a RBI. First baseman Andrea Stevenson walked twice and scored a run.

Madison strung together three straight hits in the first inning to grab an early 3-0 lead. Sandy started the rally with a single up the middle and moved to second on a single through the left side by Mooney. Both runners came around to score on home run to center by Johnson. It was the junior's third homer of the season and the 11th of her career.

The Dukes played a little small ball in the bottom of the second inning to extend the lead to 4-0. Butler led off with a single to center. She stol